What instruments does the Union have at its disposal to reach such performances? They have a regional risk capital society which invests in the cooperatives, and, together with the Provence-Cote d'Azur Region, they have a mutual guarantee society. More importantly perhaps, they have dedicated 16-person strong personnel, most of whom are directly in charge of following up the cooperative enterprises in their development.
There is also a strong emphasis on training: in 2005, the Union provided 3400 hours of training to 265 workers from 57 cooperative enterprises (25% of the total). We can also underline this interesting characteristic: the previous Union director, Guy Babolat, has now become the manager of a worker cooperative, while the new one, Michel Rohart, comes from another worker cooperative, which gives an indication of the know how and the experience of its leaders.
The Union has recently developed contacts, projects and activities with cooperative organisations present in other European regions, such as the Piedmont regional union of LEGACOOP, the Madrid Union of Worker Cooperatives affiliated to CECOP member COCETA, and VDP which is also a direct CECOP member, active mainly in Eastern Germany.
